Epistle to the Romans (Short Version)

THROUGH PRAYER TO GOD: I have been given the privilege of seeing your most worthy faces, and have even received more than I asked for; for I hope, as a prisoner in Christ Jesus, to greet you, if it is indeed the will of God that I be considered worthy of reaching the end. For the beginning has been well arranged, if I may obtain grace to stay true to my path without hindrance until the end. For I am afraid of your love, lest it should harm me. For it is easy for you to do what you want; but it is difficult for me to reach God, if you spare me.

FOR IT IS NOT MY DESIRE TO ACT TOWARDS YOU AS SOMEONE WHO SEEKS TO PLEASE PEOPLE: but as someone who pleases God, just as you please Him. For I will never have another opportunity like this to attain to God; nor will you, if you remain silent now, ever be entitled to the honor of a greater work. For if you are silent about me, I shall become God’s; but if you show your love for my flesh, I will have to continue my journey. So, please, do not seek to grant me any greater favor than that I be sacrificed to God while the altar is still prepared; so that, being gathered together in love, you may sing praise to the Father, through Christ Jesus, for deeming me, the bishop of Syria, worthy to be sent from the east to the west. It is good to depart from the world unto God, that I may rise again to Him.

You have never envied anyone; you have taught others. Now I desire that those things you instruct others to do may be confirmed by your conduct. Only request both inward and outward strength for me, that I may not only speak, but truly will; and that I may not merely be called a Christian, but really be found to be one. For if I am truly found to be a Christian, I may also be called one and be deemed faithful, especially when I am no longer visible to the world. Nothing visible is eternal. "For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." For our God, Jesus Christ, now that He is with the Father, is all the more revealed in His glory. Christianity is not merely a thing of silence, but also of manifest greatness.

I WRITE TO THE CHURCHES AND EMPHASIZE TO ALL OF THEM THAT I WILL WILLINGLY DIE FOR GOD: unless you prevent me. I implore you not to show untimely goodwill towards me. Allow me to become food for the wild beasts, through whom I will be granted the opportunity to reach God. I am the wheat of God, and let me be ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, so I may become the pure bread of Christ. Rather, encourage the wild beasts so they may become my tomb and leave nothing of my body; so that when I have fallen asleep in death, I may be no trouble to anyone. Then I will truly be a disciple of Christ when the world cannot even see my body. Pray to Christ for me, that by these means I may be found a sacrifice to God. I do not, as Peter and Paul, issue commands to you. They were apostles; I am merely a condemned man. They were free, while I am still a servant. But when I suffer, I shall be a freed-man of Jesus, and shall rise again emancipated in Him. And now, being a prisoner, I learn not to desire anything worldly or vain.

FROM SYRIA TO ROME: I fight with beasts, both on land and sea, both by night and day, being bound to ten leopards, meaning a band of soldiers who become even worse when they receive benefits. But I learn more from their injuries [to act as a disciple of Christ]; "yet I am not justified by this." May I enjoy the wild beasts that are prepared for me, and I pray they are eager to rush upon me, which I will also entice to devour me quickly, and not deal with me like some whom, out of fear, they have not touched. But if they are unwilling to attack me, I will make them do so. Forgive me [in this]: I know what benefits me. Now I begin to be a disciple. Let no one, in things visible or invisible, envy me for attaining to Jesus Christ. Let fire and the cross; let the crowds of wild beasts; let tearings, breakings, and dislocations of bones; let the cutting off of members; let the shattering of the whole body; and let all the dreadful torments of the devil come upon me: only let me attain to Jesus Christ.

ALL THE PLEASURES OF THE WORLD AND ALL THE KINGDOMS OF THIS EARTH WILL PROFIT ME NOTHING: It is better for me to die on behalf of Jesus Christ than to reign over all the ends of the earth. "For what will a man be profited if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul?" Him I seek, who died for us; Him I desire, who rose again for our sake. This is the gain that is laid up for me. Pardon me, brethren; do not hinder me from living, do not wish to keep me in a state of death; and while I desire to belong to God, do not give me over to the world. Allow me to obtain pure light; when I have gone there, I shall indeed be a man of God. Permit me to be an imitator of the passion of my God. If anyone has Him within himself, let him consider what I desire, and let him sympathize with me, knowing how I am constrained.

THE PRINCE OF THIS WORLD WOULD GLADLY CARRY ME AWAY AND CORRUPT MY DISPOSITION TOWARDS GOD: Therefore, let none of you who are [in Rome] help him; rather be on my side, that is, on the side of God. Do not speak of Jesus Christ and yet set your desires on the world. Let not envy find a dwelling place among you; nor even should I, when present with you, urge you to it, be persuaded to listen to me, but instead give credit to the things I now write to you. For although I am alive while I write to you, I am eager to die. My love has been crucified, and there is no fire in me desiring to be fed; but there is within me a living water that speaks, saying to me inwardly, Come to the Father. I have no delight in corruptible food, nor in the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, the heavenly bread, the bread of life, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became from the seed of David and Abraham; and I desire the drink of God, namely His blood, which is incorruptible love and eternal life.

I NO LONGER WISH TO LIVE IN THE MANNER OF MEN: and my desire will be fulfilled if you consent. Be willing, then, that you also may have your desires fulfilled. I entreat you in this brief letter; give credit to me. Jesus Christ will reveal these things to you, so that you shall know that I speak truly. He is the mouth altogether free from falsehood, by which the Father has truly spoken. Pray for me, that I may attain the object of my desire. I have not written to you according to the flesh, but according to the will of God. If I shall suffer, you have wished well to me; but if I am rejected, you have hated me.

REMEMBER IN YOUR PRAYERS THE CHURCH IN SYRIA: which now has God as its shepherd instead of me. Jesus Christ alone will oversee it, and your love will also regard it. But as for me, I am ashamed to be counted among them; for indeed, I am not worthy, as being the very last of them and one born out of due time. But I have obtained mercy to be someone if I shall attain to God. My spirit greets you, and the love of the Churches that have received me in the name of Jesus Christ, and not merely as a passer-by. For even those Churches which were not near to me physically have gone before me, city by city, to meet me.

I WRITE THESE THINGS TO YOU FROM SMYRNA BY THE EPHESIANS: who are deservedly most happy. Crocus, who is dearly beloved by me, is here with me along with many others. Regarding those who have gone before me from Syria to Rome for the glory of God, I believe you are familiar with them; therefore, let them know that I am nearby. They are all worthy, both of God and of you, and it is right for you to support them in everything. I have written these things to you on the day before the ninth of the Kalends of September (that is, on the twenty-third day of August). Farewell to the end, in the patience of Jesus Christ. Amen.